New Genesys Report: 70% of CX Leaders Identify AI as Crucial, but Only 34% Agree Their Organization Currently Has Knowledge and Expertise to Adopt AI

September 19, 2024 at 08:00 AM EDT

Despite Broad Recognition of AI’s importance, Companies Are Missing Out on Key Innovations

A new research report from Genesys® found that AI is rapidly becoming indispensable for companies aiming to stay competitive in the customer experience (CX) landscape. The report, “Customer experience in the age of AI,” revealed a staggering 70% of CX leaders surveyed identify AI as crucial to their CX operations in the next two to three years. Despite this, the findings also expose a surprising unreadiness and underutilization of AI’s more advanced capabilities, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses looking to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

The research underscores the belief that AI is no longer just a buzzword or an optional tool — it’s a strategic necessity. According to the report, 70% of CX leaders already recognize the critical role AI plays in making customer journeys more empathetic and personalized. Moreover, 59% of these leaders believe that integrating AI into their operations will significantly boost customer loyalty and lifetime value in the next five years. This marks AI as not just an enhancement but also as a transformative force that can reshape how businesses interact with and retain customers.

“AI is revolutionizing the customer experience by enabling companies to deliver more personalized, efficient and empathetic interactions at scale,” said Janelle Dieken, SVP of customer advocacy at Genesys. “Our research shows that businesses that fail to integrate AI into their CX strategies risk falling behind in a highly competitive landscape.”

The research underscores that while AI-powered tools such as chatbots are widely adopted, many companies have yet to fully explore AI's potential in areas like journey management, auto-summarization and sentiment analysis. Currently, only 23% of CX leaders are using AI for customer journey management, and a mere 22% use it for sentiment analysis.

These underutilized areas represent significant opportunities for businesses to deepen their customer relationships and drive greater engagement. According to Gartner®, “by 2026, 50% of customer service and support organizations will have implemented GenAI-driven virtual assistants (VAs) for agent assistance and customer-facing tasks.” Genesys believes this highlights the need for companies to expand their AI capabilities beyond chatbots and explore more advanced applications.

The new Genesys report also highlights AI’s dual benefits: improving not only customer interactions but also the employee experience. Sixty-six percent of CX leaders expect that greater AI adoption will lead to increased employee engagement, demonstrating its potential to influence operations across teams and customers.

With the importance of AI growing rapidly, the research reiterates the urgency for businesses to act now. While 70% of CX leaders recognize AI will be crucial to their operations in the next three years, a large percentage are still in the early stages of implementation. Only 34% of CX leaders agreed that their organization has the knowledge and expertise to effectively adopt AI. The remaining 66% reported mixed readiness with responses varying from somewhat agreeing to disagreeing entirely.

The report warns that delaying AI adoption could lead to a significant competitive disadvantage as other companies use AI to create more personalized, efficient and engaging customer experiences. In the US and Canada, 43% of CX leaders expect AI to help them retain market leadership. The gap between early adopters and those who lag could quickly become too large to close.

To explore the detailed findings and learn how to leverage AI to transform both customer and employee experiences, read the full report, “Customer experience in the age of AI,” here.

Gartner®, “Innovation Insight: Generative AI Chatbot to Improve CX and Agent Productivity,” Uma Challa, 23 April 2024.

Research Methodology: Genesys conducted a global survey of 1,000 director-level or higher CX leaders involved in CX strategy decisions. The Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) survey, prepared by Method Research and distributed by PureSpectrum, was conducted between February 23 and April 1, 2024. Respondents came from diverse regions, roles and company sizes.

About Genesys

Genesys empowers more than 8,000 organizations in over 100 countries to improve loyalty and business outcomes by creating the best experiences for customers and employees. Through Genesys Cloud, the #1 AI-powered experience orchestration platform, Genesys delivers the future of CX to organizations of all sizes so they can provide empathetic, personalized experience at scale. As the trusted, all-in-one platform born in the cloud, Genesys Cloud accelerates growth for organizations by enabling them to differentiate with the right customer experience at the right time, while driving stronger workforce engagement, efficiency and operational improvements.